


Content

by ARustySpork



Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, Baseball, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Jason & Marvin (Falsettos) Bonding, M/M, another baseball au i cant help it, jasons a teenager
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-17 11:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17559146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ARustySpork/pseuds/ARustySpork
Summary: Content.If there was one word to describe the way Whizzer felt, it would be content.





	1. An Idiotic Bag of Grapes

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, I'm pretty proud of this one. So, let's give it a go. It's much longer than the previous one I wrote, so I hope you enjoy it.

Marvin remembered Jason's first day of kindergarten. If anything, it was hard to forget. When Marvin went to pick him up at the end of the school day, Jason was in the office because he chucked a chess piece at some kid's head. Marvin was unsure of he should be angry or proud, he ended up going with the latter.

He could never forget the grin of his skinny, curly haired boy as he sat outside the office. One of his front teeth was missing and his eyes were glowing as if he just won the lottery, Marvin never told Trina about that day, knowing she would throw a fit. Marvin knew from that day on that Jason really was a special kid.

Ten years later, everything had changed, yet nothing had changed at all.

Marvin and Trina were divorced, she had new husband, and Jason had grown up. Marvin and Trina were still friends for Jason's sake, and Marvin had grown to tolerate her new husband slash his ex-psychiatrist, Mendel. Jason spent the weekends at Marvin’s house, that was his favourite time of the week.

Jason was now fifteen years old, but to Marvin's luck, he wasn't some angsty teen. He still liked chess and ogled over cute girls, but he didn't spend every second on his phone and didn't shout at his dad. They seemed to have something good going. Maybe it was because Marvin let him eat sugary cereal and Chinese takeout, but Jason enjoyed his weekends with his dad too.

Now Marvin was in a similar situation, picking Jason up at the office, this time in a high school instead of elementary. Marvin had no doubt that Jason got the school to call him instead of his mom in order to avoid the wrath of Trina. Marvin walked up to Jason, who was sitting outside the principal's office playing chess on his phone. Marvin raised his hands in defeat.

"What did you do this time?"

Jason glanced up at the sound of Marvin's voice. He put his phone in his pocket and started to zip up his backpack.

"Nothing big, I just argued with my teacher."

"About...?"

Jason sighed. "I was arguing about wave cancellations in physics class and he kept telling me the wrong thing so I called him an idiotic bag of grapes."

Marvin just shook his head. "Look, I know how difficult adults can be, but you know you can't throw vaguely insulting words at them, at least not when they can discipline you."

Jason laughed lightly, glad his father wasn't mad at him. One short talk with the principal and a promise from Jason later, Marvin was driving his son back to his apartment. It was awfully convenient that this happened on a Friday, or else he'd have to drive Jason home and explain to Trina what happened.

As they entered his apartment, Marvin chucked his car keys in a bowl near the door. Jason immediately retreated to his room to put his bag away. Marvin walked over to the kitchen and started to put on some water to boil, deciding that mac'n cheese would make a good choice for dinner.

Jason returned after a while, jumping onto the couch and turning the television on.

"The game is on tonight!" he announced excitedly.

"Right," said Marvin with significantly less enthusiasm.

Marvin never understood Jason's fascination for the sport, but he watched the games anyway if it meant he got to spend time with his kid. He set a timer for the pasta, then joined Jason on the couch. Jason had already put the game on, he was watching the screen intensely. Marvin tried to follow along, but mostly depended on the play-by-play analyses from Jason, which the kid had no issue giving.

"Wait, why are they booing?"

"Because the ump said he was safe, which was an idiot call."

"Oh. Was he not safe?"

"Obviously not."

"Huh."

The rest of the game continued something like this. Marvin asking questions, and Jason answering them.

"Yes! Here he is, let's go!"

"What?"

Jason gestured at the screen.

"It's Brown, he's the new pitcher. He's awesome!"

Marvin looked up briefly before returning to his bowl. "Yeah? Why's that?"

"He's so cool, not only is he an amazing pitcher, but he's awesome outside the field. He always gives these super explicit interviews and does this thing on his social media where he interviews random famous people about stuff that has nothing to do with them."

"Wow, sounds...interesting."

"It is! Once he interviewed Hillary Clinton and asked her for her opinion on plain bagels. He's cool because he doesn't think he's better than everyone. One kid at my school got her baseball signed by him and said that he asked her for a picture."

Before Marvin could reply, he heard a knock at the door. He got up, leaving Jason to his game, and answered it.

"Hey!" said Cordelia, immediately stepping in without invitation. 

Charlotte followed after her, heading straight towards the couch to join Jason. Cordelia instead set some Tupperware down on Marvin's kitchen counter.

Charlotte and Cordelia were Marvin's lesbian neighbours. They always came over to watch the baseball game with him and Jason. They were...enthusiastic, to say the least. Marvin remembered when he first moved to this apartment building after he divorced Trina, the lesbians were overjoyed when they found out that they had a gay neighbour. He didn't mean to tell them, it happened by accident when Cordelia came by to drop off some cookies and was met with one of Marvin's hookups on his way out. But Marvin was glad to have some new friends, he hadn't really dated anyone since he and Trina split, at least not for longer than a week.

"Where the hell'd they get that umpire!?" Charlotte shouted a little too loudly.

Marvin just laughed as he and Cordelia joined them in the living room. He spent more time watching Jason than watching the television. It made him happy to see how passionate his kid was about the sport; he and Charlotte went back and forth gushing over this "Brown" guy.

An hour later, Jason had retired to his room as Marvin and the lesbians sat in the kitchen chatting. He listened to Cordelia go on about her latest catering deal, and Charlotte talk about her annoying co-workers.

"And then they were like 'can you keep the ice cream at room temperature' and I was like that's not how ice cream works, bitch!"

Marvin raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, I didn't actually say bitch, but you get the idea."

Marvin laughed, adjusting his position on the counter. He looked over to see Charlotte glance over at Cordelia, as if in confirmation, then turning back to Marvin.

"Marv, have you ever thought about maybe dating again?"

Marvin narrowed his eyes at Charlotte, inviting her to continue.

"It's just, asides from when Jason and us are over, you're always alone, I think it'd be good for you."

"Yeah," added Cordelia. "I'm sure there are plenty of eligible bachelors out there that are looking for a hot dad type."

Marvin just shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I've just never really thought about it."

"Trust me," said Cordelia. "You should give it a go."

Maybe they were right, maybe Marvin should try dating again. It had been a while, within the past few months it had just been the occasional hookup. Marvin wasn't sure of where to start though, not a lot of guys were up for a relationship with a guy who had an ex-wife and fifteen-year-old kid.

But it couldn't hurt to try, right?


	2. Peanuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marvin took Whizzer's hand in his and shook it. "I'm Marvin."
> 
> "Marvin? What, were you born in the forties?"
> 
> "Says the guy named Whizzer."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I'd post the first two chapter back-to-back, so here you go.

"Trina, how are you?"

"Marvin, Jason, come in."

Sunday night, Marvin dropped Jason off at home. Things between him and Trina had improved significantly, she even invited him in for coffee. Mendel was sitting at the kitchen table, rifling through a newspaper. He smiled warmly when he saw Marvin enter. If you had told Marvin that he would happily spend time with Trina and Mendel a few years ago, he would have rolled on the floor with laughter. Yet, here he was.

He took an empty seat at the table, receiving a mug from Trina, who took a seat next to Mendel.

"So, how've you been?" Marvin asked politely.

"Good," she said. "I've been rearranging the living room, trying to give it a more open feel. Mendel's been absolutely blasted at work, can't stop talking about it."

Mendel shook his head, "frickin' Caroline, won't stop telling me explicit details about her sexual escapades with her boss."

Marvin just laughed lightly in reply. "Well, I can't say my life has been so interesting. Work has been normal, but the guy from the flower shop down the street was totally arrested for murder."

"Really? Leo? But he was so sweet!"

"I know, right? He always used to give me free roses!"

The three of them laughed and chatted politely for a while before Marvin excused himself to head back home.

His life was quiet, repetitive, but not completely awful. Sure, he wished there was more to it than weekends with his son and late-night chats with his neighbour, but surely things could be worse. 

_____________________________

Thursday night, Marvin made his way down the street on his way home. He enjoyed the night lights, the sound of the city. After living there for a few years, he found the best streets the travel on at the best times so he was least likely to get mugged.

As he walked, he ended up on a street that was packed to the brim with bars. He recognized a few of them where he would go to get drunk and hookup with guys. Maybe the lesbians were right, maybe he should get back out there. Maybe that was why he was trudging down the steps of a gay bar he recognized.

The dark but welcoming light of the bar engulfed him as he stepped inside. It smelled like sex and alcohol, a scent not unfamiliar to Marvin. Marvin immediately spotted an open seat at the bar, in between an old man who was drinking his woes away, and a younger man in tight clothes.

Marvin sat down and immediately ordered a drink. He leaned forward to start breaking open the carton of peanuts in front of him. The bartender set Marvin's drink down in front of him, which Marvin took a sip of. He took a look to his right, where the old man was sitting hunched over the counter. He was wearing old, ratty clothes that were slightly too big for him. He had lines on his face, but still carried a sweet nature.

Marvin wondered when he would become that man.

Marvin turned back to the peanuts, cracking open another shell. As he looked ahead, he noticed the man to his left, who seemed to be sneaking several glances over at Marvin. Marvin knew what that meant. He spun his chair slightly to look at the younger man, who carried a confidence that showed that he was often at bars like this, yet his eyebrows were knitted together as if there was a slight confusion.

"Looking for something?" Marvin asked slyly to the younger man.

The man raised his eyebrows, as if he were surprised that Marvin was speaking to him. Marvin took this short time to examine him. He had swoopy brown hair, which looked like it had taken hours to style. He was wearing a mint button down and tight high waisted brown pants. He had an old leather jacket thrown on over top. He spun slightly so the two of them were facing almost head on.

"No, it's just that usually people don't sit beside me."

Marvin laughed. "What? You're too intimidating? You don't exactly give off that vibe."

The man raised his eyebrows, but dropped the subject. Instead, he stuck out his hand to shake with Marvin.

"I'm Whizzer."

Marvin took Whizzer's hand in his and shook it. "I'm Marvin."

"Marvin? What, were you born in the forties?"

"Says the guy named Whizzer."

"You've never heard my name before?"

Marvin shook his head, taking another sip from his drink. "Can't say I have."

Whizzer seemed slightly taken aback, but soon resumed his nonchalant state. Marvin had to admit, it was nice to just talk like this. In any other occasion, Marvin would probably be on his way to some guys place for a night that he would likely forget the next morning. This was a nice change of pace, in fact, the two of them sat there for hours, talking about nothing and everything.

Whizzer giggled, "so you're telling me that your ex-wife married your psychiatrist?!"

Marvin put his head in his hands, unable to contain his own laughter. At this point in the night, they were drunk enough that Marvin didn't seem to care about what Whizzer knew about him. Whizzer didn't seem to care that Marvin had a son and ex-wife.

"I haven't even told you about my lesbian neighbours-"

"Your what!? Tell. Me. Everything."

Marvin gushed about Cordelia's cooking and Charlotte's wit. Whizzer latched onto every word, leaning on the bar so he could get a better view of Marvin.

"And no one tells her how bad it is because we don't wanna hurt her feelings," Marvin said, laughing through his words.

Whizzer smiled. "I used to coach little league baseball in high school, and there was this one kid who could not swing the bat to save his life, every time he swung it, it flew out of his hand and whacked some kid in the stomach. So one day, I shit you not, I duct taped the kid's hands to the bat."

Marvin giggled, "and how'd that work out?"

"Awful, the mom practically ripped me apart, but the kid didn't throw the bat anymore."

"You play baseball?" Marvin asked.

Whizzer hesitated, "...yeah."

Marvin shrugged, "Jason loves baseball, but I've never really been interested, seems a bit boring to me."

Whizzer dropped his jaw, looking as if Marvin told him that he was a Trump supporter.

"Baseball is not boring! There's so much grace to the game, it takes skill, you have to be precise. Every move you make affects the game..."

Marvin watched as Whizzer went off on a passionate lecture about all the techniques and science of baseball. He was cute when he talked, his eyes lit up, his smile grew by the second. The night was growing late, considering he had work the next morning, but Marvin felt like he could stay there forever just watching Whizzer talk.

Once Whizzer's little spiel was over, the two of them sat for a few moments in silence just looking at each other. It wasn't awkward, Marvin actually enjoyed those seconds where they sat in each other's company. The two of them were far more relaxed than they were at the start of the night, truth be told, Marvin had never really done something like this before. He decided that if he was gonna do this, he might as well do it now.

"Hey, do you maybe wanna...get outta here?"

Whizzer smiled. "I'd like that."

That night when he first went into the bar, he expected to be where he was now, in his bed with a naked stranger. What he didn't expect was that he'd be looking over at the sleeping man, not wanting to go to sleep with the dread that this man might be gone in the morning.


	3. The Jacket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Marv, is this yours?"
> 
> Marvin turned to see Cordelia lifting up a brown leather jacket, looking at it with confusion.

When Marvin awoke the next morning, Whizzer was gone. Marvin was unsure of what he expected, but unlike all of his past hookups, he couldn't keep Whizzer off his mind. He looked around his bedroom, any remnants of Whizzer were gone. 

Marvin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. It was Friday, meaning that Jason would be over again. He glanced at the clock, realizing he wouldn't have time to shower before work. Instead, he threw on some clothes and started heading towards the door. As he walked past the kitchen, something caught his eye, stopping him in place.

Sitting on the kitchen counter, tucked under a mug filled with pens, was a piece of paper. On it, was scrawled a phone number and a note from Whizzer.

_Let's talk more about baseball, call me  
Whizzer_

Marvin picked up the paper, unable to hold back his smile. He picked it up and tucked it in his wallet, being careful not to lose it. He started making his way to work, thinking about Whizzer the whole time.

He liked this, the way he and Whizzer could effortlessly carry a conversation. He could have talked with him forever, and he thought that Whizzer felt the same way. He hadn't felt this way in a long time, there was a warmth in his chest that he just couldn't explain. He found himself randomly smiling to himself as he remembered snippets of his conversations with Whizzer.

He put Whizzer's number into his phone, but didn't call him, not yet. What if Whizzer wanted to meet up? He was with Jason all weekend, and the last thing he wanted was to cancel on either of them. If Whizzer wanted to be in contact with Marvin again, why would he leave so early? A million questions ran through his head.

If there was one thing Marvin was sure of, it was that he wanted to see Whizzer again.

___________________________________

"Wait, so he puts Luke Skywalker inside the tauntaun? I thought he just put him beside it! That's disgusting," declared Jason.

Charlotte nodded her head, shoving more popcorn into her mouth. "Shhh, I love this part! Han Solo is the best!"

Marvin just laughed at his son and friends, looking over at them from the kitchen. He was currently popping more popcorn as he watched Empire Strikes Back from afar. 

"Marv, is this yours?"

Marvin turned to see Cordelia lifting up a brown leather jacket, looking at it with confusion. 

Well, shit.

"Uh...no, sorry, that's just nothing."

He quickly retrieved the jacket and hung it up on the coat rack. When he looked back to the couch, he saw that he had accidently obtained the attention of everyone else in the apartment.

Jason paused the movie before speaking. "Did you bring a guy home last night?"

Marvin stuttered, unsure of how to reply to his teenage son who asked him if he hooked up with someone. What was he supposed to say?

"Uh...well...yes."

Everyone turned around on the couch, focusing their full attention on Marvin, who really wasn't appreciating it.

"Who was he? What's he look like?" asked Jason.

"Are you gonna see him again?" asked Charlotte.

"I, uh...I don't know, I-"

"Was he good?" Cordelia asked bluntly. "I mean, you're usually pretty loud, we can hear you from our place. So was he good? Or maybe your mouth was full-"

"Nope!" Marvin announced, covering his ears, "we are not talking about this!"

He retreated into his room, ignoring the laughs coming from the three people on the couch. Even Jason was laughing. What had his life come to? The lesbians managed to drag him back out to the living room so they could finish the movie. Marvin's face was as red as a tomato. He sat nestled in between Charlotte and Cordelia with his arms crossed.

"But for real," Charlotte asked after waiting a minute. "Was he good?"

Marvin glared. "...Yeah."

_____________________________________________

Jason was currently in bed, Marvin had kicked the lesbians out long ago. Now he sat in his empty bed with his hand hovering over his phone, deciding whether or not he should hit send. It really wasn't a big deal, it shouldn't have been. It was just one sentence, was that really so hard to muster?

Jason would be gone tomorrow evening, leaving the week wide open for any time Whizzer might want to hang out. But what if Whizzer didn't want to hang out? What if he just gave Marvin his number so he could be some booty call?

Whizzer was special, the two of them just seemed to fit together, and not just physically *wink wonk* but emotionally. Marvin found himself able to talk with Whizzer for hours, there wasn't any awkward flirting as a lead up to them eventually sleeping together. They actually talked about their lives for the sake of getting to know each other. Marvin thought, fuck it, and hit send.

**Hey, it's Marvin**

He turned off his phone, then immediately turned it back on to see if there was a reply. Of course, there wasn't. Instead he took his time to brush his teeth and shower and all, and when he returned, he was left with no new notifications.

He put his phone on his nightstand and laid back in his covers. A buzz came from his phone, causing Marvin to quickly reach over and check it. No, it was just a weather update.

"Dad?"

Marvin sat up to see Jason looming in his doorway. He was just backlit by the streetlights shining through the window. Jason had grown up so much in the past few years, but in a way, he was still the young boy Marvin knew. His hair was ruffled, he was wearing an oversized t-shirt over his pajama pants, he had sunk into the darkness of the night.

"Yeah, kid?"

"Can I...can I sleep in here?"

Marvin narrowed his eyebrows, slightly concerned. Why would Jason want to spend the night with him?

"Uh...yeah, sure, is something up?"

Jason dragged his feet as he walked over to Marvin's bed. He plopped down on the empty side of the bed and hurriedly burrowed under the covers. He twisted so he was lying on his side, facing Marvin.

"I don't know, I just don't feel like being all alone tonight."

Marvin figured there was something else there, but he wasn't going to push. Instead, he just nestled into the covers, letting Jason curl up against his arm. Suddenly, the fifteen-year-old beside him turned back into the little boy that was afraid of thunderstorms. Suddenly, Marvin forgot about his pending text message.

Suddenly, Marvin felt content.


	4. Wifi Waves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A date?"
> 
> Ha, she was surprised.

When Marvin checked his phone the next day, he was glad to see that he had received a text from Whizzer. The text stated for Marvin to meet Whizzer in a specific park in a very specific place at nine that night. Marvin would have to drop Jason off a little earlier than usual in order to get there, but that hopefully wasn't too much of an issue.

"Who're you talking to?" asked Jason, briefly taking his attention away from his homework.

"It's nothing," said Marvin, quickly pocketing his phone. "Whatcha working on?"

Jason shrugged as Marvin went to join him at the breakfast bar. "Just physics. My teacher keeps getting mad because we kept referring to diverging waves as 'Wi-Fi waves.'"

Marvin laughed, then leaned over to get a better look at the worksheet. He had initially planned to try and give him a hand, but instead turned away once he saw that there was math involved.

"Alright," said Marvin, pouring another cup of coffee. "I'm gonna have to take you back a little earlier today."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I, uh...I have somewhere to be."

Jason smiled, pushing his books away and leaning forward onto his hands. "And where is that, exactly?"

Marvin narrowed his eyes, glaring into his coffee. Yeah, he wanted his kid to like him more, but he wasn't expecting a front row seat to his son asking all about his love life.

"I'm...meeting up with someone."

"Is that someone the owner of that leather jacket?" Jason asked, gesturing to the coat rack.

Marvin looked up at his son with hesitance. "Maybe."

Jason grinned as he walked over to the fridge to grab a can of pop. "Okay, just, tell me how it goes."

"I definitely won't."

________________________________

"Marvin! You're here early, would you like to come in?"

Marvin currently stood outside the door of his ex-wife's house, thinking it best that he didn't enter.

"Actually, I had to drop Jason off early because I have plans."

"Oh?" asked Trina, growing more intrigued as she leant against the door frame. "Wine night with the lesbians?"

"No, actually, I have a date."

Marvin wasn't sure if it was actually a date, but he was gonna say that if it meant that he would surprise Trina. That was one of the small joys in Marvin's life.

"A date?"

Ha, she was surprised.

"Yeah, anyways, I better get going, it was nice seeing you."

"Right..."

Marvin swiftly turned around and started heading back to the car.

Marvin and Trina's relationship had improved significantly since the divorce, but there was still a large barrier between them. As a person, Marvin had changed a lot. He had grown nicer, gentler, less controlling. Once he realized the world didn't revolve around his wants and needs, he had become much more tolerable.

As Marvin got into the driver's side of his car, he quickly checked his hair in the mirror before beginning his journey to the place he was supposed to meet Whizzer. Marvin would never admit it aloud, but he had been running various outcomes of this night through his head for the past few hours.

To be honest, it would be nice to have someone other than his lesbian neighbours or his fifteen-year-old son to hang out with.

He pulled into the parking lot and started his walk to a very specific spot in the park, an oak tree near the stream with a street light just south of it. It was actually a lot easier to find than Marvin had expected. When he approached the tree, Whizzer was already sitting underneath it. The other man jumped up when he saw Marvin.

"Marv, hey!"

Marvin and Whizzer were dressed much more casually than they were at their first meeting. Marvin swapped his work attire for jeans and his red hoodie, whereas Whizzer was wearing some joggers and a baseball shirt.

"Hey Whizzer," Marvin said, walking up to the taller man. "You know some coffee shop would be fine, why did you decide to meet me at some random park at night?"

Whizzer smiled softly, "I'm not one for hanging out in the public. Walk with me?"

"I'd love too."

Whizzer joined his by his side as the two of them slowly made their way down the path along the stream. There was a light breeze making its way through the cool night air. It wasn't cold out, not in the least. It was actual somewhat warm by any day's standard, but compared to the hot daylight, it was a relief.

"You know, I'm glad to see you again."

Marvin smiled softly to himself. "I'm glad to see you too."

"Did you have too much fun without me in the last few days?"

"I can't say I have, unless you call burning a pot of linguine fun."

Whizzer laughed out loud. "How do you manage to burn pasta? It's like, the easiest thing there is to cook."

"Hey! I'm sorry I'm not a five star chef-"

"I think my nephew can boil pasta, and he's three years old!"

"-But at least I try!"

As Whizzer laughed at Marvin's weak attempt at an excuse, Marvin couldn't help but join in. After that, the two of them continued to laugh and joke and tease one another. Marvin enjoyed this, he liked talking with Whizzer, he liked just being around him at all.

After talking for a while, the two of them continued their walk in a comfortable silence. Marvin thought of all the things he could say to start the conversation back up, but part of him didn't want to, part of him just wanted to stay quiet, enjoying Whizzer's company. As they walked, he felt Whizzer's hand brush up against his own. He started blushing like a school girl, acting as if they hadn't already slept together a few days earlier. He didn't have to worry about what to do though, because Whizzer swiftly took Marvin's hand in his.

Whizzer stopped in the grass, bringing Marvin to a halt along with him. The two of them stood face to face. Whizzer leaned down, moving to kiss Marvin, Marvin closed his eyes, preparing to meet his lips with Whizzer's. Instead of being met with a warm, welcoming kiss from Whizzer, he was instead met with cold, cold water.

Whizzer pushed Marvin backwards suddenly, who went tumbling into the stream. He re-opened his eyes, looking up at Whizzer who was giggling like a maniac.

"I'm sorry! I had to, it was just so easy!" he laughed.

"You motherfucker!" Marvin shouted back, slightly miffed, but slightly amused. "At least help me up."

Marvin reached up his arm, which was completely soaked, so Whizzer could pull him to his feet. Whizzer lifted out his hand, still laughing his ass off, and took Marvin's hand in his. Of course, 

Marvin instead took this opportunity to pull Whizzer into the stream with him.

Marvin laughed, "I can't believe you fell for that! That's the oldest trick in the book."

Whizzer grunted in frustration, running his hands through his hair as to salvage it. It was no use though, he was completely drenched. The two men climbed out of the stream, giggling like children. Their clothes were sticking to their skin, making the warm night feel much colder.

"Hey," said Marvin. "We're gonna catch out death out here, let's head to my place."


	5. Toothbrush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whizzer smiled. "That's actually kind of adorable."
> 
> Marvin smiled back. "I guess I'm kind of adorable."

"Why do you have so many candles in your bathroom?" questioned Whizzer, who emerged bearing a towel wrapped around his head.

Marvin leaned his head on the back of couch so he could look at Whizzer. He was currently wearing some of Marvin's old clothes while his were in the dryer. He looked cute, all the other times he had seen Whizzer, he was either dressed up or naked. It was different to see him all bundled up in a towel and slightly oversized clothing. Different, but good.

Whizzer sauntered over and sat down on the couch next to Marvin, folding his legs up underneath him. He pulled off his towel and shook out his damp hair, causing it to stick out in different directions.

"When I first got this place, I figured I should have something to make it seem more adult. Therefore, candles," answered Marvin.

Whizzer smiled. "That's actually kind of adorable."

Marvin smiled back. "I guess I'm kind of adorable."

Whizzer just rolled his eyes and leaned into Marvin's side, resting his head on his shoulder. Marvin tensed for a moment in surprise, then relaxed into Whizzer's side.

There was something comforting about such a domestic moment. The two of them sitting on the couch, curled up next to one another. Marvin never expected that a half-drunken hookup would end up like this. Marvin's hands absently found their way up to Whizzer's hair and started running his fingers through the damp strands. Whizzer adjusted his head slightly to better rest into Marvin's neck.

Marvin wasn't sure if he should say anything, not wanting to ruin the moment, and what a moment it was. He hadn't felt this peaceful in years.

"Do you mind if I sleep here?" Whizzer asked, breaking the silence.

Marvin didn't reply immediately, pondering what exactly Whizzer was implying.

"Just, I don't want to leave," he continued. Whizzer turned his head to look up at Marvin with soft eyes. "Is it alright if I stay?"

Marvin couldn't help but smile at the innocence of his tone. "Of course."

__________________________________________

"Do you have a toothbrush I could use?" Whizzer called from the bathroom.

"Uhhhh, yeah, check under the sink," Marvin called back.

Marvin was currently untucking the comforter from under the mattress. He was half expecting Whizzer to start making out with him as soon as they stepped into his bedroom but was pleasantly surprised when it turned out that he really did just want to sleep.

Marvin was already crawling into bed when Whizzer dragged himself out of the bathroom. He hobbled over to the other side of the bed, clearly very tired. He snuggled under the covers and immediately curled up next to Marvin. Marvin just smiled a smile that was hidden in the darkness as he leaned to turn off the lamp.

He slunk down into his pillow, the only thoughts occupying his mind were that of Whizzer and how comfortable he was at that moment. Whizzer turned his head slightly so his mouth was against Marvin's neck.

"You're cute," he said, his exhaustion evident in his voice.

Marvin just smiled to himself, admiring the man. He leaned over and softly kissed Whizzer on the head.

He could tell he was falling for this man, even if he didn't want to admit it. All he knew was that he definitely wanted to see Whizzer again, then again, then again, then several more times after that. 

He had no idea how he got so lucky as to have this man in his arms.

Marvin watched the rise and fall of Whizzer's chest until he fell asleep, feeling more content than he had in a long time.

_____________________________________

For the next few weeks, Whizzer had been coming over to Marvin's house every few nights. Sometimes they would screw, yeah, but other times they would just cuddle and watch old movies. He never had Whizzer over on the weekends though, he hadn't really told anyone about their relationship. Whatever their relationship was.

He had received several questions from Jason and the lesbians, but Marvin didn't budge. The most he revealed was a few physical descriptions. He insisted that it was nothing, but even Marvin wasn't sure if that was true. He was berated when Charlotte noticed an extra toothbrush in his bathroom.

At this point, Whizzer had a full drawer for clothes at Marvin's place. His leather jacket had been replaced with one of Marvin's sweaters that he always seemed to love wearing. Marvin hadn't meant to be so mysterious about who he was seeing, he was just trying to be cautious.

He had to admit, things were just so easy with Whizzer. They never ran out of things to talk about, and when they didn't talk, they just curled up in a comfortable silence. They started to grow more comfortable with one another, often staying up in Marvin's apartment rather that going out.

One morning, Marvin was sitting propped up on his hand watching Whizzer sleep. He ran his hands up and down Whizzer's bare back, admiring every inch of his skin. As Whizzer awoke, he flipped onto his other side to look at Marvin.

"Hey loser," he said. "Don't you have work?"

"I still have half an hour before I need to get up," Marvin wiggled his eyebrows. "Plenty of time until then."

Whizzer laughed, "I have a few ideas of how we can use the time."

Marvin needed no further invitation as he clambered over on top of Whizzer, pressing sleepy kisses onto his neck.


	6. The Blue Devils

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You got this buddy!"
> 
> "Just get your head in the game, think about the footwork-"
> 
> “Remember your exercises-“
> 
> "Don't get hit by the ball!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter in preparation for chapter 7, where things start to go down.

"Marvin, can you do me a favour?"

Marvin raised an eyebrow, unsure of how big of a favour this would be based off Trina's tone.

"Uh, sure?"

It was more of a question than an answer.

"So, Mendel and I had gotten tickets to take Jason to this MLB game Wednesday afternoon, but Mendel tripped in the garden and sprained his ankle, so we can't go. I know Jason would hate to miss out on this, do you think you could take him?"

Marvin almost laughed at the thought of Mendel getting a face-full of dirt.

"Yeah sure, I have some sick days saved up. I can take him."

"Thanks Marvin, you're a life saver. I'll email you the tickets."

The two of them said their goodbyes, and as Trina moved to close the door, Marvin swore he saw Mendel lying stretched out on the couch with his ankle raised dramatically into the air.

___________________________________________

"You got this buddy!"

"Just get your head in the game, think about the footwork-"

“Remember your exercises-“

"Don't get hit by the ball!"

Jason shook it off, trying to ignore the fact that his far too large cheering section was embarrassing him in front of his team. The Blue Devils (ironically named considering he was playing through the Jewish Centre) were in the middle of their season. Even though his team had been together since he was eleven, none of them had improved at all. A few of his classmates from school were on his team, he tried to hide in a group with them to avoid the embarrassing cheers from the five people on the bleachers.

"Come on Marv, you won't tell us anything about him, is he really that bad?"

"He isn't bad at all, he's great, I just don't want to make a big deal about it."

Charlotte sighed dramatically, leaning into Cordelia. Marvin ran his fingers through his curls, which were blowing in the cool air. It was a relief, they had been sitting on the bleachers for an hour already, and it would have been so much worse if the day were hot.

"Don't you at least have any pictures of him?" asked Cordelia.

The lesbians were desperate for any info on Marvin's apparent lover. Marvin was a bit hesitant about spilling his guts, he wasn't sure where exactly he and Whizzer were in their relationship. They had definitely become very comfortable with one another, but they mostly just spent time one on one. Sometimes they went for walks in various parks, but they mainly just hung out at Marvin's apartment. Strategically so, so that the lesbians had never seen him. In a way, it was nice that they spent so much time together as they never managed to get sick of being around each other. Whizzer only came over in the evenings, he always worked in the afternoon, but Marvin didn't know what exactly it was Whizzer did, he always seemed to steer around the question. Marvin supposed it didn't matter so much, as Whizzer was always glad to come back to Marvin most nights.

"I don't really take pictures," said Marvin, "that's more of his thing."

"When can we meet him?" whined Cordelia. "If he's anything like you describe him, I think we'd be great friends."

That was true, Whizzer was equal parts too explicit at the wrong times while also being cool and sweet, making him a great match with Cordelia. Whizzer would sometimes do this thing where he would excitedly climb over Marvin in the mornings just so he could show him pictures of some hedgehog he found on Instagram. This guy made his heart fucking melt.

"Soon," said Marvin, unsure of how truthful that was. "Maybe we can come over for dinner or something."

Cordelia squealed. "There's a new recipe I've been wanting to try, this would be perfect!"

Charlotte leaned past Cordelia to give Marvin a knowing look.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Mendel from the row down.

Mendel had crutches propped up beside him, a sprained ankle not being enough to stop him from coming to the game.

"Just Marvin's mysterious boyfriend he won't tell us about," interjected Charlotte with a smile.

This caused Trina to turn her head, suddenly joining the conversation.

"Boyfriend? Who's this?"

Marvin narrowed his eyes at Charlotte. "He's not my-you've got this Jason! Don't get hit by the ball!-he's not my boyfriend, well, I don't know, it's just, we haven't talked about it."

Trina raised an eyebrow. Curious, but not wanting to push.

"I bet he's like, some English professor whose equal parts mature and sexy," proposed Cordelia.

"Or maybe he's a barista who memorizes everyone's names, so he never has to ask when he writes it on the cup," added Charlotte.

"Ooh! What if he's, like, a cool hipster tattoo artist with a man-bun who rides a motorcycle?" Mendel joined in.

"Or, he's an artist who lives in one of those lofts and paints the same skyline over and over," said Trina.

"Wow guys, I'm glad we're having so much fun talking about theoretical boyfriends, but maybe we could turn our attention back to the game," said Marvin, trying to change the subject.

"Aww! He's blushing!" teased Cordelia.

Marvin shook his head looking back across the field to see Jason trying-and failing-to bat. Marvin tried to teach the kid proper form, but he didn't know what he was doing either. Jason struck out, causing a sigh of frustration from their bleachers, and a few shouts from the lesbians.

Maybe Marvin should finally introduce Whizzer to the rest of the family, but he would have to talk to him about it first.


	7. A Baseball Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are you sure you have to work today? I'm taking Jason to a baseball game, we have a ticket if you want to come."
> 
> Whizzer raised an eyebrow. "What teams?"
> 
> Marvin shrugged. "Not sure."

"Hey, look over here real quick."

Marvin turned his head to see Whizzer sitting on the kitchen counter wearing only his underwear. He was swinging his legs like a child and holding an old camera in his hand. It was Wednesday morning, Whizzer had slept over, not that they did much sleeping *wink wonk.*

As Marvin turned his head, Whizzer lifted the camera to his face and snapped a picture, catching him by surprise. When Whizzer lowered the camera, he was smiling. He pulled out the polaroid and started lightly shaking it. Marvin walked over to where Whizzer was sitting so he could look at the photo. Whizzer draped an arm around Marvin's neck and showed off the picture in the morning light.

The sun shined ever so nicely through the windows, illuminating Marvin's face. It was the perfect candid, Marvin had a slight smile on his face and a hopeful look in his eye. His morning hair was messy, but elegant.

"I love it," said Whizzer, smiling as he examined the photo.

He leaned over and gave Marvin a soft, quick kiss on the mouth. "I'm keeping it forever."

Marvin grinned back, just looking into Whizzer's eyes with their faces centimeters apart. Whizzer, of course, looked beautiful as always, the morning doing nothing to make his hair any less perfect.

Whizzer hopped off the counter and sauntered towards the cupboards. He pulled out a box of Lucky Charms, which were mainly reserved for when Jason was around, and poured a bowl. Marvin had the day off work because of some plumbing problem in the building, making him relieved that he wouldn't have to use a sick day to take Jason to the game.

"Hey, pour me a bowl."

Whizzer obliged, setting down another bowl next to Marvin's coffee. The two of them sat at the table, eating in silence for a while.

"Are you sure you have to work today? I'm taking Jason to a baseball game, we have a ticket if you want to come."

Whizzer raised an eyebrow. "What teams?"

Marvin shrugged. "Not sure."

"Huh, I really can't though, but I'd like to. Next time. But can I come by again tonight?"

"Of course..." said Marvin, hesitating for a moment. "Actually....would you maybe want to go to dinner with the lesbians tonight? They've been pestering me, they really want to meet you."

Whizzer grinned. "You've told them a lot about me?"

Marvin blushed slightly, averting his gaze back to his bowl of cereal. "Not....a lot."

Whizzer reached out and grabbed Marvin's hand to comfort him. "I'd love to, Marv. Just, make sure Cordelia cooks something edible."

Marvin laughed. "No promises."

"Whelp," said Whizzer, standing up from his chair, "I should probably put on some clothes, I've got to leave soon."

Marvin waggled his eyebrow, "what a shame."

Whizzer gave Marvin a look as he swaggered over to the bedroom, still wearing only his underwear. Marvin took the liberty of checking him out as he walked away.

A few minutes later, Whizzer was tying his shoes and starting out the door. He gave Marvin a quick peck on the cheek before veering down the left hall.

"Bye Marv! Seeya tonight."

"Whiz, why don't you just take the elevator it's down the other hall-"

"Nah!" called Whizzer, already halfway to the staircase, "this is more environmentally friendly!"

Marvin just laughed to himself before retreating back into his apartment. He went to pour himself another mug of coffee, and half an hour later, Jason waltzed through the front door.

"Hey dad!" he said with a smile.

"Hey Jace, ready to go?"

Jason nodded, he was carrying a backpack probably filled with sunscreen and water, and likely hiding snacks so that the boys wouldn't have to pay for the stadium stuff. Trina had learned long ago that it was best to hide food in bags rather that fork over 20 bucks for a pop.

The two began their drive over to the stadium, Jason immediately connecting to Bluetooth so he could play whatever music he was into at that time. This month, it was Queen and The Beatles. The two of them managed to get into the stadium without much issue, situating themselves at their seats just as the game was starting. Their seats weren't bad, they just definitely weren't good. They were in a nice little spot up in the nosebleed section.

Jason unzipped his backpack, revealing all the snacks stuffed under the rain poncho Trina must have packed. He pulled out a few bottles of water, and a bag of popcorn, which he handed over to Marvin. They gazed onward to the field, listening as the announcer's voice boomed across the stadium.

Marvin didn't hate baseball, he just didn't find it particularly interesting. He did, however, enjoy the chance to spend time with Jason, just as when they watched it on TV occasionally. One word to describe Marvin would be happy, as he looked over at his son who was staring intently at the field below them. Jason also happened to be simultaneously wrestling with a bottle of 110 SPF sunscreen. Marvin shoved another mouthful of popcorn into his mouth.

“And now appearing on the pitcher's mound is a brilliant player and fan favourite, Whizzer Brown!”

Marvin coughed as he choked on a kernel of popcorn.

"You alright, dad?" asked Jason, looking at his father with concern.

"Yeah, yeah," Marvin wheezed, trying to act as normal as possible even though internally he felt as if he had just been bludgeoned with a steel toed boot.

Jason looked skeptical, but turned his attention back to the field. Marvin was freaking out a bit, praying that the Whizzer Brown on the pitcher's mound at that moment wasn't the same Whizzer Brown that had been sitting on Marvin's kitchen counter in his underwear that morning.

He looked across the field to the big screen, where the fucker's face was projected for everyone to see. He had a cheesy grin on his face, raising his hand to wave to the fans which had erupted into cheers at his appearance. Yup, that was Whizzer.

The main thoughts running through Marvin's head at this moment was: what the fuck, what the fuck, and what the fuck.

He stared blankly ahead as the game began, with Whizzer immediately striking out the first batter. Marvin couldn't register what was happening, and as the game progressed and the innings passed, Marvin and Jason didn't speak.

"Looks like Brown is really carrying the team," said Jason, effectively breaking the silence. "His pitches have been pretty consistent."

"Uh huh," was all Marvin was able to reply.

This was why Whizzer had never said anything about his work, because he was a fucking Major League Baseball pitcher. No wonder they rarely went out in public, no wonder he was surprised when Marvin sat next to him at the bar and didn't recognize his name. No wonder he went on such a passionate rant when Marvin said he didn't like baseball. Marvin pulled out his phone and texted a single message to Whizzer.

**To: Whizzer  
From: Marvin**

**what the fuck**


	8. Not His Smartest Move

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm sorry, but I told you I play baseball-"
> 
> "You told me you coached a fucking little league team, not played in the Major Leagues!"

"What are we doing here? I just wanna go home," Jason whined.

His arms were crossed across his chest, leaning up against the brick wall. The two of them were standing out the back of the stadium, well after the game had ended.

"I'm just waiting for someone."

"Who? Did the lesbians come to this game or something?"

"You can go to the car, if you want."

Jason just sighed, exasperated, before turning back to his phone. Jason had no idea what was really going on, he had no idea how Marvin was internally freaking out.

Marvin waited anxiously in front of the back door, where Whizzer said he'd meet him. It had been a while. A million thoughts had been running through his mind in the past however how long. Was he dreaming? Or was this a nightmare?

Finally, the door swung open, and Whizzer waltzed through the door with a mixed expression on his face.

"What the fuck Whizzer?" started Marvin, ready to launch into the speech he mapped in his head over the entire game.

"I'm sorry, but I told you I play baseball-"

"You told me you coached a fucking little league team, not played in the Major Leagues!"

Marvin wasn't angry, not by a longshot, he was just confused and slightly annoyed.

"It's not a big deal, it's just a job."

Marvin sighed. "I just wished you told me, I mean we've been seeing each other for weeks and you'd think you might mention this at some point over cereal or whatever. 'Hey Marv, just thought you should know that I'm a famous pitcher yeah because I know you've mentioned various times that you watch games with your son, I wouldn’t want to catch you off guard,'" Marvin said that last part   
in his best mock Whizzer impression.

"Okay, so this hasn't been my smartest move, but I appreciated that you had no idea who I was! That's never happened to me before!"

Marvin only sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. In this small dispute, he realized that he completely forgot that his fifteen-year-old son was lingering a few feet behind him with his jaw practically on the ground.

Marvin could only imagine how this looked to Jason. A few minutes ago, he was complaining that they were waiting outside of the baseball stadium, only to watch his lifelong hero walk out and casually strike up a conversation with his dad. No, not have a conversation, but bicker about some ongoing relationship that they apparently had.

"Dad?"

Marvin's eyes suddenly flew wide open as he remembered that his Jason was standing behind him. Whizzer leant to the side to look past Marvin towards Jason, his pleading look turning into a smile.

"You must be Jason," Whizzer said as the teenage boy approached him, who still looked shell-shocked. "I've heard all about you."

"This," started Jason, mostly ignoring Whizzer's comment, "this is the guy you've been seeing?"

Marvin simply nodded.

"You've been seeing my all-time favourite baseball player?"

Marvin turned his eyes back to Whizzer, his mouth half open, trying to think of what to say.

"I don't know if this is the worst or the greatest thing to ever happen to me," Jason said in disbelief.

Whizzer laughed and held out a hand to shake with Jason, who obliged. "Your dad says you like baseball, right?"

“Are you kidding me? I fucking love baseball!”

"Jason! Language," interjected Marvin.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Come on, give me a break. Wait, but like, how did this happen?"

“I think you can probably guess how it happened….” Marvin began, hoping Jason got the idea.

“Actually, scratch that,” Jason added. “Forget I asked, I don’t want to know. This is the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me, except maybe that time I ran into a pole because I saw Anderson   
Cooper in the street.”

"Well," said Whizzer, readjusting the bag over his shoulder, "since I'm heading over for dinner anyways, mind if I catch a ride with you guys?"

Before Marvin could reply, Jason was already vigorously nodding his head in agreement. Jason couldn't hide the huge smile on his face as the three of them began their walk to the car. He immediately berated Whizzer with dozens of questions about his game stats and his teammates and his pitches. 

Whizzer took the passenger's seat, kicking Jason to the back, not like the kid minded. He was completely infatuated with Whizzer. His favourite baseball player was sitting in the same car as him, how could he not be excited? The entire car trip, Jason wouldn't stop talking unless it was to let Whizzer answer his questions. Whizzer just smiled and happily replied to whatever Jason asked.

As Marvin pulled up to Trina's house, Jason made a sudden shift in conversation.

"Wait...I can still come over on the weekends, right?"

Whizzer turned to Marvin with a smile. "Of course you can, I just might be there...if you don't mind."

Whizzer waggled his eyebrows at Marvin, who grinned back slightly.

"Yes! That'd be sick!"

Jason leaped out of the car, carrying the energy he had when he was ten, and started sprinting up to the house. Marvin quickly rolled down his window and called out to Jason, stopping the teen in his tracks.

"Jason! Maybe we could...hold off, on telling your mother about this?"

Jason nodded and waved goodbye, then did a 180 and sprinted into the house. Marvin sighed and rested his head on the steering wheel.

"Well," he said after a few seconds of silence. "Today did not go as I expected it to."

"I'm sorry," said Whizzer, "I'm sorry I didn't say something. That was a really shitty thing to do-"

"No, no, it's fine," interjected Marvin. "I'm just...taking it all in."

He looked over to his right to see Whizzer staring at him with soft eyes. Marvin mustered a small smile, knowing it was impossible to stay even the littlest bit angry at this man. He started the car back up and shifted into gear.

"Now, let's eat some supper with some lesbians."


	9. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are...are you-"
> 
> "Famous MLB pitcher Whizzer Brown? Yes," cut in Marvin.
> 
> "And...and you're..." Cordelia started.
> 
> "Marvin's boyfriend?" finished Whizzer, "yes."

Marvin had called the lesbians that morning to tell them that dinner was on, who of course were overjoyed. He did tell Cordelia to make her spaghetti and meatballs (with the secret motive that that was one of the only dishes she didn't mess up).

As the two men cleaned up in Whizzer's apartment, Marvin came to the sudden realization that the lesbians would probably know who Whizzer was. Marvin was still wrapping his head around the fact that he was dating (could he say dating?) a famous baseball player.

"Alright," said Whizzer, checking his hair for the 50th time, "lead the way."

Marvin led Whizzer down the hall, all the way to the next door down. He raised his hand to knock, and the door immediately swung open with both the lesbians standing behind it. They wore huge smiles on their faces, obviously eager to see who Marvin's new man was. Their smiles quickly fell when Whizzer became visible. The stood in a silenced shock for a moment before Charlotte spoke.

"Are...are you-"

"Famous MLB pitcher Whizzer Brown? Yes," cut in Marvin.

"And...and you're..." Cordelia started.

"Marvin's boyfriend?" finished Whizzer, "yes."

Marvin looked at Whizzer from the corner of his eye, biting back at smile when Whizzer called him his boyfriend. The lesbians didn't know how to reply, so instead they just opened the door a little wider so the two men could enter.

Charlotte and Cordelia's apartment was like Marvin's, but different in its own way. For one, it was oriented differently, the entire suite was flipped. The biggest difference was that it was much cozier. Marvin's apartment was comfortable in the way that it was filled with blankets, memories, and whatever clothes Whizzer and Jason left lying around. On the other hand, Charlotte and Cordelia's apartment was much more thought out design-wise. 

The kitchen was much more extravagant, filled with whatever cooking gadget you could think of. The living room was decorated with knick-knacks and miscellaneous items. There were paintings on the walls and shelves filled to the brim with both cookbooks and medical books. It was homey.

"Nice place," said Whizzer as he looked around.

"Uh...thanks, yeah, well dinner will be ready in a sec so you guys can sit down," said Cordelia, still a little shocked.

Whizzer and Marvin took the far seats at the table, both of the girls going to the kitchen to grab the food. Marvin looked over to Whizzer as he sat down, noticing how he wrung his hands out and obsessively cleaned his fingernails. To Marvin, it almost seemed like Whizzer was nervous. Marvin reached his hand underneath the table and took Whizzer's hand in his, consequently halting his fidgeting. Whizzer glanced back at Marvin with a soft smile, his entire body relaxing at his touch.

Cordelia made her way over, carrying a large spot of spaghetti. Charlotte was close behind with the sauce and assorted drinks. Whizzer raised his eyebrows at Marvin upon seeing the food, Marvin just leaned in and spoke so only Whizzer could hear.

"Don't worry, it's edible."

Whizzer stifled a giggle, turning his attention back to the table.

"Wine?" asked Charlotte, holding up a bottle.

Marvin declined, opting for a glass of ice water instead. Whizzer also declined. 

"I can't," he said. "I have conditioning tomorrow."

Charlotte put the bottle down, looking mildly impressed. As the table began dishing out their food, Cordelia started the conversation the girls were obviously dying to have. Any formalities had immediately dropped.

"So...I've got so admit, this isn't exactly what I expected Marv. Why didn't you tell us your guy was a famous fucking baseball player?" 

Whizzer chuckled at Cordelia's bluntness. "Actually, he didn't know until this afternoon."

Marvin couldn't hold back his smile, realizing how ridiculous that situation actually was. "I went to his baseball game with Jason without even knowing I was going to see him."

"Shit," laughed Charlotte. "That's the greatest thing I've ever hear. Wait, so you just like were sitting there then realized, wait a minute..."

Marvin spoke in between laughs. "I was there with Jason, then the announcer dude was like 'hey, it's Whizzer Brown' and I was like, who else is named Whizzer? Then his dumb beautiful face was on the big screen and I was like, what the fuck is this?"

The lesbians were both engulfed in laughter at the thought of a disoriented Marvin sitting in a baseball stadium. Whizzer was smiling along at Marvin's side of the story. He was glad that Charlotte and Cordelia were acting like normal people around him, even though they knew who he was.

"So how did you guys get together?" asked Cordelia.

Marvin turned to look at Whizzer, signaling him to go ahead with the story.

"Well, we met at a bar. I was sitting alone, because everyone was too intimidated to sit next to me, and anyone who did was some creepy old guy. Then Marvin waltzed over and sat down, and he didn't even speak to me, so I was like who's this guy? And we started talking to me and he didn't know who I was, which was a nice change. And we just talked and drank through the night, and he told me about what a great cook you are-" he gestured to Cordelia, giving a sly wink to Marvin "-and all about you guys, and was just nice."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow, waiting for the rest of the story. "And...?"

"...And then we hooked up at Marv's place."

"There it is," Charlotte finished. "We heard it all, these are thin walls-"

"Okay, we don't need to hear this again-" Marvin interjected.

"-And we thought that it would just be a one night thing, but then every other night it's all we can hear at, you guys are so fucking loud-"

"Okay, okay!" Marvin interrupted.

Marvin was blushing furiously, it was bad enough having to hear this with the two of them but it was somehow worse when the guy he was making the noise with was there. Whizzer, on the other hand, was smiling like an idiot, basking in Marvin's embarrassment.

"You're one to speak,” Marvin shot back, “What about that week that Charlotte had off work? I swear it's like you guys were breaking the wall, Jason's room is right up against your apartment."

Now it was their turn to blush, but Whizzer was still giggling like a schoolboy through the whole conversation.

"What about you guys?" Whizzer asked. "How did you two meet?"

Cordelia looked over at her girlfriend, smiling at the memory.

"So I was trying out a new recipe, which involved a water bath. I had to put this pan filled with water in the oven which I cook batter in. Anyways, I was talking out the water bath, and I accidently dropped the pan and the water spilled all over my hands. The burn was hella bad, so I ended going to the hospital."

Charlotte intervened to finish the story. "I was working in the ER that day, and I see this cutie stumbling in having no idea how a hospital works. So I treated her, and she kept telling me about what water baths are and why she would never try it again. I asked her out for dinner while I was bandaging her hand."

The two girls gave loving smiles to each other. Marvin admired how in love the two were, even years after meeting one another. He was waiting for the day one of them would propose.  
Whizzer shoved a forkful of pasta into his mouth, seemingly enjoying Charlotte and Cordelia's story. He liked these girls, they immediately made him comfortable and didn't make things formal.

"So, Whizzer, you guys've been together for a few weeks, what sealed the deal?" Charlotte asked. "Was it the fact that Marvin eats frosting straight out of the container? Because frankly, it's absurd.  
Whizzer smiled softly and looked over at Marvin. "He's sweet, and mean, and even though his fashion sense is questionable, he's pretty."

Before Marvin had the chance to figure out how to reply so Whizzer's suddenly sweet words, Whizzer already went digging in his pocket, pulling out his wallet. He lifted out a folded-up thick piece of paper, quickly opening it and showing it off to the girls.

"I took it this morning," he said, showing off the picture of Marvin in the morning light. 

Marvin felt a warm feeling inside, watching as Whizzer proudly showed off the photo.

"You kept it?" Marvin asked quietly, surprised that Whizzer would keep such an insignificant photo.

"Of course," Whizzer replied, a sincere look in his eyes. 

"Aw..." teased Cordelia. "I didn't know it was possible to make Marv look good."

"Hey!"

"This is really good," said Charlotte, taking the photo from Whizzer to further examine it. "Are you into photography?"

Whizzer shrugged. "I do it for fun, but it's not anything I've ever taken very seriously."

Charlotte handed back the photo, which Whizzer carefully refolded and tucked back into his wallet.

Marvin didn't know what it was, but there was something about that photo that made him smile. Whizzer turned his head, and for a moment, their eyes met. Charlotte and Cordelia were already talking about some patient that had a lightbulb up his ass, but all Marvin could think about was how Whizzer's eyes sparkled.

God, he liked this man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya, thanks for giving kudos and writing comments, they really make my day. We're a little over halfway through, so buckle in and buckle down.


	10. Spider-Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Maybe, but you need to remember that he’s a busy guy.”
> 
> “Yeah, getting busy with you…”
> 
> “Jason!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Infinity War spoilers

Marvin and Whizzer left the lesbian's apartment with the promise that Whizzer would be back for a movie night that weekend. Whizzer returned to his apartment for the night as he had conditioning the next morning, yet it was always disappointing when Marvin awoke in the morning without Whizzer in his arms.

Marvin was still registering the fact that his boyfriend was famous, and the fact that his boyfriend was his boyfriend. Yet in another way, he wasn’t registering it at all. Marvin did that a lot, when he’d receive news that was huge and probably should affect him immensely, it was like it never hit him. He just kind of went along with it like it was normal.

That’s what was happening now, he took the whole thing in stride. Marvin climbed out of bed and walked into the main room, he turned on the TV so he could watch it from the kitchen. It just so happened to be reviewing the stats from last nights baseball game. He interviewers gushed over Whizzer and his pitches and his hits. It was weird to watch it knowing what Whizzer was actually like. He wasn’t just some game statistic, he was a person with likes and dislikes, who drank hot chocolate with every meal. It almost made Marvin like baseball. At least, more than he did before.  
Marvin had the weekends off work, opting to spend that time with Jason instead. He just had to make it through the day before he was home free. Marvin was an advertising agent, definitely not the most exciting job…at all. He managed to make it through the long day in his office, filling out paperwork and making small talk with his co-workers.

Once he finally arrived back home, he immediately took to making a cup of coffee. Not fifteen minutes after Marvin got home, Jason strolled through the door carrying his backpack on one shoulder and a duffel bag on the other.

“Where’s Whizzer?” he asked excitedly, “is he here?”

Marvin chuckled at the boy’s energy. Jason usually came back from school, far too exhausted to have a conversation. Normally he would either flop on the couch and turn on the TV or start on homework at the table. Today, however, he sat at the breakfast bar and excitedly pestered Marvin.

“Sorry kid, he has practice, he won’t be back for a bit.”

Jason sighed, dramatically sitting down on a barstool while Marvin leaned against the counter with his mug of coffee. He whipped out his phone, plugging it in to charge, then pulled out various textbooks and binders to begin on his homework.

Marvin really did feel bad for the kid, it was like the teachers didn’t understand the concept of stress and teenagers. Marvin tried to help out where he could, but the only place he was really useful was in the English department. He was completely useless when it came to math and sciences.

“I can’t believe you’re dating my favourite MLB player,” Jason said as he spread out his assignments across the table.

“Does it bother you?” Marvin asked, the sudden realization crossing him.

“No! No, I think it’s really cool, just unexpected is all. Like, what are the chances? You didn’t even know he was famous! Never break up with him, okay?”

Marvin chuckled. “Sure thing kid, I’ll try.”

“I like him,” Jason declared. “Do you think he’d really come to one of my baseball games?”

“Maybe, but you need to remember that he’s a busy guy.”

“Yeah, getting busy with you…”

“Jason!”

Jason held up his hands in mock surrender. “Sorry, I just think it’d be awesome if he showed up, all the other guys would think I’m cool.”

Marvin raised an eyebrow and placed his now empty mug in the sink. “Why would you need your teammates to think you’re cool? You have friends there, don’t you?”

Jason shrugged, avoiding eye contact. “I guess, but, you know, teenagers can be cruel.”

“Is everything okay? Do you need-“

“I just,” Jason interrupted, “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Jason quietly turned back to his homework, consequently ending the conversation. It hurt Marvin, to see his kid like this, but he didn’t want to push. Marvin definitely knew how kids could be, remembering his high school years. The sounds of slurs being spit in his direction still echoed in his ears, he didn’t want Jason to go through the same thing.

Marvin was caught off guard by the sudden ringing from his cell phone.

“Hello?”

“Marv! Hey, how bout that movie night?” asked Cordelia from the other line.

“Uh…sure, what time?”

He heard some rustling on the other end, including the faint voice of Charlotte as they conversed.”

“Like…nine?”

“Okay, sounds good, also we live right next to each other, you could have just walked over here and asked.”

“Hey, don’t attack me with your common sense. I’ll see you then, bitch.”

She promptly hung up, causing Marvin to question why anyone ever used the phone anymore.

“Jason, down for a movie night?”

“Yeah! Is Whizzer gonna come?”

Marvin moved over to the fridge and started rummaging around for whatever snack he could find. “I’d assume so.”

“Sick, we should totally watch Infinity War.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged.”

“Hey, I have to write an essay about the theme of guilt in Macbeth. I need one more point, I already have Lady Macbeth and blood, and the floating dagger.”

“Um…the ghost of Banquo.”

Jason face palmed. “Duh, I’m an idiot.”

The next few hours proceeded something like that. The two would stay silent asides from the occasional Shakespeare question. Apparently, Jason wanted to get his homework out of the way because he was a good student. Marvin guessed it actually had something to do more with Jason wanting as much time as possible with Whizzer.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Whizzer said in a sing-songy voice when Marvin opened the door.

At the sound of Whizzer’s voice, Jason whipped his head around so fast Marvin swore it almost flew off his shoulders.

“Hey Whizzer!”

“Hey Jace,” Whizzer said as he hung up his leather jacket.

He walked over an gave Marvin a peck on the cheek, whispering something crude into his ear so Jason couldn’t hear. It made Marvin blush anyways.

“Uh, a-anyways,” Marvin stuttered, earning a wink from Whizzer, “the lesbians invited us for a movie night, so we should get going.”

“Sick,” said Whizzer, “just let me change real quick.”

Jason barreled off the couch, grabbing all the stuff he needed before he could depart to next door. Marvin instead followed Whizzer into the bedroom. Whizzer raised an eyebrow when he saw Marvin close the door behind him.

“Hey…” started Marvin, “you’re okay with Jason being here, right? I know it’s kinda weird-“

“No, no,” Whizzer said reassuringly as he stripped off his clothes. “It’s totally cool, I like the kid. I guess we just have to be quite…”

Whizzer waggled his eyebrows, and as tempted as he was by his half naked boyfriend standing in front of him, this is one thing Marvin wouldn’t do.

“Hey, don’t you even try, Jason is right outside.”

Whizzer stepped forward and snaked his arm around Marvin’s waist.

“Whatever, he’s a teenager, he might as well be scarred at one point or another.”

Whizzer leaned down and pressed his lips to Marvin’s. As much as Marvin liked this, and he really did, he pushed Whizzer away after a few seconds.

“Just, get ready,” said Marvin as he slipped through the door, still wearing a smile.

___________________________________________

“Hey bitches and Jason!” Cordelia exclaimed as the three boys entered the apartment.

“Wow, I’ve already been upgraded to the title of bitch, I’m honoured,” Whizzer said, clutching a hand to his heart.

Jason laughed, jogging over to his spot on the couch next to Charlotte. Cordelia walked out of the kitchen carrying two bowls of popcorn.

“Good to see you again, Whizzer,” Charlotte said as she put her arm around Jason. “Prepare to experience the best night of your life.”

“We’ve got pops in the fridge if you want a drink,” said Cordelia as she took her seat in one of the plush arm chairs.

“Actually, do you have hot chocolate?”

Marvin rolled his eyes, laughing to himself. Whizzer consumed hot chocolate by the gallon. According to him, he would sneak it to games in a water bottle. Nothing could stop him.

“Yeah, there should be a mix in the cabinet,” said Cordelia, pointing but not looking in the general direction.

While Whizzer wandered off to the kitchen to make what was probably his tenth cup of hot chocolate that day, Marvin took a seat on the other coach where he assumed Whizzer would later join him.

“Can we watch infinity war?” Jason asked.

“Again? We’ve all seen it and you’ve probably watched it a dozen times,” Charlotte said.

“Uh, yeah, cause it’s good!”

“Infinity War?” chimed in Whizzer from the kitchen. “Like that Marvel movie?”

Everyone turned to look at Whizzer, who was now walking towards the couches with a red mug in his hand.

“Yeah,” said Jason. “Only the greatest film of the season.”

Whizzer shrugged, “I’ve never seen it.”

Jason gasped so loud he might as well have screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Well, now we have to watch it,” Marvin decided.

________________________________________

“Yes Thor! You kill those space dogs!” Whizzer exclaimed.

Everyone was into the movie, but everyone was more into watching Whizzer’s reaction to the movie. He was the only one who had never seen it, and it was fun watching his hopes build up with the knowledge that it would all come crashing down in a short amount of time.

“Who’s Heather?”

Everyone turned their head to look at Charlotte, who was peering over Jason’s shoulder. Jason scrambled to put his phone away, but it was too late, the damage was done.

“Heather?” Marvin asked with a raise of his eyebrows.

“Heather?” Cordelia chimed in.

“He was texting some girl named Heather!” Charlotte said with a grin quickly spreading across her face.

“What? No, no I wasn’t.”

“Aww, Jason’s got the hots for Heather,” Whizzer joined. However, he was still intently watching the screen, not wanting to miss anything.

“We’re just friends.”

“’Just friends, sure Jace, we know how it goes,” said Cordelia as she shoved another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

“Hey, don’t assume that just because she’s a girl we can’t just be friends. You know, it’s heteronormative ideals like this that make it impossible for people to break through gender roles and destroy stereotypes, I expected you guys to be more progressive.”

The adults in the room looked at Jason blankly, not saying a word.

“Okay, fine, I think she’s pretty.”

__________________________________________

“Holy shit. Holy shit. Motherfucker, wait-no wait, but….”

Whizzer went through all the stages of grief as he watched Peter Parker turn to dust. He held onto Marvin’s hand for dear life, now staring at the screen with his mouth wide open. The room was dead silent as Whizzer’s hopes and dreams fell apart before him.

The screen faded to black, the credits began to roll.

“Why…” started Whizzer, “why would you let me watch this?!”

Everyone burst into laughter, Whizzer lightly punched Marvin, baffled about how anyone could laugh after Spider-Man had just died in Robert Downey Jr.’s arms.


	11. Lasagna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Uh…Whizzer, maybe wanna put some clothes on?” Marvin said at last.
> 
> “Oh, yeah, sure.”

“Whizzer, do you think you could come to my baseball game?”

Whizzer looked up from his bowl of cereal and his mug of, of course, hot chocolate. The three of them were having Lucky Charms for lunch, because no one was there to stop them. Sunday afternoon, they were taking this time to just hang out. Whizzer had to leave for practice soon, and Jason was milking this as much as possible. Jason loved the guy, and luckily the feeling seemed to be mutual, Whizzer enjoyed spending time with the kid.

“Maybe, when is it?”

Jason looked slightly surprised that he hadn’t immediately been turned down. “Uhm, there’s a big one two Sundays from now…”

“Two Sundays from now?” Whizzer repeated.

He took out his phone and scrolled through his calendar. Jason seemed to be holding his breath during the few seconds Whizzer was on his phone.

“As long there aren’t any press conferences that come up, I’m sure I could make it.”

“Really?” Jason said with probably the most hopeful look in his eye Marvin had ever seen. “That would be amazing!”

Whizzer looked at Marvin from the corner of the eye, sharing the same look. Marvin was happy that Jason was happy, and Whizzer was happy that Marvin was happy. It was a happiness triangle. A buzz came from Jason’s phone, who took it out and unlocked it with speed only a teenager would have.

“Oh! I forgot, Cordelia wanted to teach me how to make lasagna.”

“Knock yourself out,” Marvin said, already moving to collect Jason’s plate. “Just, don’t burn the building down.”

“No promises!” Jason called, already halfway out the front door.

Marvin shook his head, but smiled nonetheless as Jason made his way out the door.

“So…” Whizzer said suggestively as he slid up behind Marvin. 

He placed his hands onto Marvin’s hips, then started pressing kisses onto the back of Marvin’s neck. Marvin shrugged his shoulders up, not wanting to take initiative but knew he couldn’t be responsible for Whizzer’s tardiness.

“Hey, you have to get changed, you’re gonna be late for practice.”

Whizzer groaned in frustration but started on his way to the bedroom anyways. Marvin followed him, deciding he wanted to dig through his closet for a specific sweater he hadn’t worn in years.   
Whizzer took off his shirt and chucked it across the room, mentally claiming that he would wash it later.

“Do you think Jason likes me?”

Marvin looked up from the hole he dug himself in the closet. “You kidding? I think he loves you.”

“Huh,” was all Whizzer replied.

What Marvin couldn’t see was the smile that formed on Whizzer’s face. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Whizzer looked to Marvin who had somehow managed to burrow even a deeper hole in the closet.

“I’ll get it,” he said without thinking.

Whizzer walked over to the front door, still shirtless, and answered it. It had eventually dawned on Marvin that maybe he shouldn’t have let Whizzer answer the door, because it was very likely that whoever was behind it was someone that would be very confused at his presence, and Marvin was right.

Whizzer wasn’t sure what to expect when he opened the door. What he definitely didn’t expect to see was a woman who looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown, and a bearded man who looked constantly annoyed with society.

What Whizzer didn’t know, was that the people before him were his boyfriend’s ex-wife and ex-psychiatrist, but he could guess. Said ex-wife and ex-psychiatrist were stuck wondering why there was a half-naked man standing in Marvin’s apartment, they too had an idea.

“Is….is Marvin here?” asked the woman.

“Uh…yeah, hold on.”

Whizzer twisted around and called dramatically into the apartment.

“Marviiiiiiiin! There are people heeere.”

He turned back to the couple as he waited for Marvin to make his way over. Trina assumed that the tall shirtless man would take her asking for Marvin as a cue to leave, but he remained, nonetheless.

Marvin came stumbling out of the bedroom, tripping over various clothing items. He suddenly perked up when he saw who was at the door.

“Oh, shit…” he muttered. “Trina, Mendel, what’s wrong? What are you doing here?”

He approached the door, now standing next to Whizzer. Whizzer was acting like this was a totally normal situation, Trina and Mendel were very confused, and Marvin was entering a mild state of panic. For too many moments, the four of them just stood there in silence.

“Uh…Whizzer, maybe wanna put some clothes on?” Marvin said at last.

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

Whizzer glanced down, then retreated back to their room. There was a moment of silence before Trina broke it.

“Whizzer?”

“Uh…yeah, um, he’s my boyfriend.”

Marvin hoped the shocked look on their faces was because they recognized his fame, and not because they were surprised Marvin could get such a good-looking guy.

“Oh.”

“Aaaaanyways,” said Mendel in his question-avoiding fashion. “We’re just here to pick up Jason.”

Marvin cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”

“He has this banquet fundraiser for his baseball team at the Jewish Centre, I’m supposed to take him,” Trina interjected awkwardly.

“Oh, yeah, sure, he’s with Cordelia and Charlotte right now. I’ll just call and send him over so he can get his stuff. Come in, come in.”

Marvin walked over to the landline to make the call, more so wanting an excuse to move around than anything else. Luckily, Jason made his way over pretty quickly, preventing any awkward conversations from taking place.

As Jason made his way back into the apartment to collect his stuff, Whizzer emerged from the bedroom dressed in his uniform and carrying his ball bag. Mendel and Trina looked at Whizzer, then at each other, then at Marvin. Marvin’s mysterious boyfriend was just getting more and more confusing.

“You’re leaving?” Jason asked when he saw Whizzer in his uniform.

“Yeah, but I’ll see you next week?”

“Definitely!” Jason exclaimed.

The two of them did some complicated handshake that they must have come up with sometime over the weekend. Whizzer leaned over and gave Marvin a kiss on the cheek, gave a wave to Mendel and Trina, then departed through the door.

“Okay,” said Jason, breaking the silence. “I’m ready to go.”

Jason gave Marvin a hug goodbye before starting towards the door. Mendel hesitantly followed him, then Trina eventually snapped out of her trance and joined them.

“Bye, Marvin.”

She awkwardly shuffled out the door, taking in all this new information.

Yeah, maybe Marvin should have tried to explain everything to Trina and Mendel, but he just didn’t feel like it. He didn’t owe that to them, right? Might as well let Jason gush about Whizzer in the car. Maybe Marvin would be the cool parent now.


	12. Two Sundays From Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Let’s do this punks! Let’s play some ball!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've gotta say, my favourite thing to have written out of this entire thing, was Whizzer's first crush story in this chapter.

“Would you maybe…wanna move in?”

Whizzer started coughing, choking slightly on his mug of hot chocolate. It was at that point Marvin realized he had made a mistake, and immediately started backtracking.

“Never mind! I’m sorry, it was stupid idea, I was just thinking because you’re here all the time anyways it might just be easier, it was just an idea though you totally don’t have to-“

“Marvin,” Whizzer interjected, holding up a hand and wiping his mouth. “I would love to move in with you.”

Marvin’s look of concern quickly turned into one of utter joy and relief.

“Really?”

“Yeah!” Whizzer exclaimed, slightly laughing at Marvin’s surprise. “I was just a caught a little off guard is all.”

A huge smile spread across Marvin’s face. He leaned forward on the couch and dove into a passionate kiss with his boyfriend. Whizzer rolled over so he was straddling Marvin, keeping the kisses soft and light.

Marvin was happy with how their relationship had been progressing. Both of them worked most days, which meant they were happy to spend all their nights with one another. Whizzer spent so much time at Marvin’s place, he thought it logical for him to just move in. 

Whizzer was the most charismatic person Marvin knew. The lesbians immediately fell in love with him, as did Jason. Mendel and Trina…were to be decided. Last time Marvin dropped Jason off, he made a point to quickly return to the car.

“Can you guys keep it in your pants when I’m here?”

Jason emerged from his room fully dressed up in his baseball uniform. Jason wasn’t usually so excited for his baseball games, but now that he knew Whizzer was coming, it was like a switch had flipped inside of him.

Whizzer rolled off of couch, much less mortified than Marvin that the teenage boy had just walked in on the two of them making out. 

“Hey kiddo, ready for your game?” said Whizzer, walking over to ruffle Jason’s hair.

“Yeah, I think Heather Levin is gonna be there.”

Whizzer had been significantly better at getting Jason to open up about his personal life. Marvin supposed it was easier for a teenage boy to talk about his crushes to his life-long hero over his gay dad. They discovered that Heather was a girl in Jason’s grade that was good at math and physics, she was also the star athlete on the track and field team. She had a brother on Jason’s baseball team, which was why she was going to the game.

“Nice, are you gonna try asking her out?”

Jason narrowed his eyes. “That’s not how it works, Whizzer, I can’t just ask her out.”

“Sure you can. You know, the first boy I ever had a crush on was this guy, Alex Roberts. Total twink, and a total closet case, but he was super clueless. Anyways, we were both fourteen, and we were left alone in the locker room after gym class because like basically everyone else had mono or something, and he was definitely checking me out like, the whole time. So I just sorta slid up behind him, and before I knew it, we were full on making out. Honestly, it probably would have escalated to a blowjob or at the very least a handjob, but then this bitch Troy Krasinski walked in and was like ‘where are my fucking socks’ and I was like ‘I’ll shove those socks up your ass if you don’t leave right now’ and he gave me this look that for a second I was thinking we were heading towards a threesome, but then the three of us just ended up going to Subway.”

Jason stared at Whizzer as he went off with his story, eating up every word. Marvin decided that maybe Whizzer wasn’t the greatest influence for Jason.

“For the record Jason, you definitely shouldn’t ask Heather out like that,” Marvin added. “Maybe just ask her to the park or museum or something.”

“Or,” interjected Whizzer, suddenly perking up in epiphany. “Take her to a baseball game.”

Jason raised an eyebrow, growing curious. “A baseball game?”

“Yeah, I can totally score you guys tickets, I have connections and the guys in charge fucking love me.”

Jason smiled, “that would be amazing Whizzer!”

“But,” started Whizzer, suddenly turning serious. “You only get those tickets if you ask her out. Even if she rejects you, I’ll give you pity tickets.”

“Okay,” Jason said with a determined look in his eye. “Deal.”

“Hey, hey, hey!”

The door almost swung off its hinges as the lesbians burst through, fully decked out with their baseball-viewing outfits.

“Let’s do this punks! Let’s play some ball!”

________________________________________________________

Marvin took his place on the bleachers where he usually sat, next to Charlotte and Cordelia. This time, however, he was dragging Whizzer along with him.

Whizzer had already received a few incredulous looks when he and Marvin made their way to the bleachers. Mostly parents that did double-takes, questioning whether or not they were hallucinating. Because really, why would an MLB player go to a community baseball game?

“Trina and Mendel I presume? It’s nice to see you again,” Whizzer said politely, trading handshakes with the both of them.

Marvin avoided eye contact with the couple, who were probably surprised to see Whizzer there. There was no doubt that Jason had told them all about his dad’s new, famous boyfriend.

There wasn’t enough room for all four of them to sit on the top row, forcing Whizzer to sit beside Mendel and Trina. He seemed to be totally oblivious to the fact that the straights were really being really fucking awkward.

“So, Whizzer,” started Mendel, who was also oblivious to a point. “You’re seeing Marvin?”

“Unfortunately,” Whizzer joked, looking with interest on to the field.

At Whizzer’s remark, Marvin lightly flicked the back of Whizzer’s head, which only made him laugh.

“Um, what do you…what do you do? For work?” Said Trina, joining the conversation.

It wasn’t really a worthwhile question, she definitely knew what he did. Maybe she just needed the chance to hear it herself, so Whizzer answered.

“Well, I pitch in the Major Leagues. It’s exhausting at times, but I have fun sometimes.”

Trina raised her eyebrows, “the Major Leagues, like, the Major Leagues?”

Whizzer nodded casually, as if he had just told her he was a barista at Starbucks. Rather than choosing to be berated with questions from Trina, he turned at struck up a conversation with the lesbians. Surprisingly, the game had turned out pleasantly unawkward. 

“Of course I know who Sandy Koufax is.”

“That’s what I’m saying, but most people don’t. He’s probably the greatest baseball player of this millennium-“

“Debatable”

“-and I really feel like he’s just totally unappreciated.”

Marvin couldn’t help but feel bad for Whizzer as his listened to Mendel’s love for Sandy Koufax, yet he felt he was much better equipped to handle it than anyone else.

“Oh, look at that, Jason’s on deck,” Whizzer said suddenly, as stood up to use his sudden distraction as an opportunity to evade his conversation with Mendel.

Whizzer swaggered up to the dugout, where Jason was on deck swinging the bat, very poorly. He watched the eyes of the uniformed boys follow him as he made his way over to the teen.

“Hey, Jason!”

Jason’s eyes lit up when he saw Whizzer.

“Hi Whizzer!”

“Do you mind?” 

Whizzer took the bat from Jason in an attempt to show him proper form. Jason’s previous technique was so awful that changing anything would make his swing a million times better. After a few frail attempts from Jason, Whizzer figured he’d change the subject.

“So, which one’s Heather?”

A slight blush fell across Jason’s face. He gestured with his head towards the stands, where a teenage girl was sitting alone. She had dark brown hair, which was weaved into a single braid that went down her shoulder. Unlike almost everyone else in the crowd, she wasn’t on her phone, but rather immersed in the game. Whizzer was almost impressed, even he wanted to embrace the temptation and start live tweeting the game.

“She’s cute,” said Whizzer, sending sly eyes back to Jason. “So why don’t you go out there, hit a bitchin’ home run, and impress the fuck out of her, huh?”

“You know what? Yeah! I am gonna hit a bitching home run, and then everyone is gonna think I’m the shit, and then I’ll be awesome!”

Jason and Whizzer did their cool handshake before Whizzer turned to retreat back to the bleachers.

“Oh, and Jason, maybe don’t use that language around Marvin. He’s gonna think you got it from me.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “I go to public school, there’s no way I get it from you.”

Whizzer shot him a wink, then made his way back to Marvin. The eyes that followed him didn’t go unnoticed, not that it bothered him, Saul Applebaum could suck his dick.

“Do you think there’s any hope for the kid?” Marvin asked once Whizzer had returned.

Whizzer chuckled, “Look, I love Jason, but this is not his venue.”

What Whizzer didn’t see was the way the corners of Marvin’s mouth upturned when Whizzer said “love.”

CRACK

The heads of everyone on the bleachers turned at once to see Jason standing over home plate, as the ball flew across the fence on the other side of the field. His jaw was practically on the ground as he stood there in utter shock. The entire crowd shouted in unison.

“RUN!”

Jason needed no further instruction as he rounded the bases. It didn’t really matter though, since the ball was probably at the bottom of a pond. Whizzer looked around, everyone around him were on their feet, cheering and shouting. He craned his neck to look at another set of bleachers, where a certain brown-haired girl was cheering at the top of her lungs.


	13. Hot Chocolate and Brownies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Marv, I need my hot chocolate. I can already feel myself growing weaker.”

“I don’t know if this is such a great idea.”

“No, no, it’ll be totally fine, just think of it as, like, a secret mission.”

To be fair, Trina had a right to be skeptical. What Whizzer had just proposed was slightly intrusive and definitely insane, but everyone else was on board, even Mendel. 

Whizzer had arranged for two seats behind home plate for Jason and Heather, since he had apparently mustered the courage to ask her out, to which she agreed. Whizzer had also commandeered five tickets right behind his dugout, so the whole family could camp out and spy on Jason. No matter how strong willed she was, Trina was too protective of a parent to let this opportunity pass up.

So that’s how five adults found themselves sitting in a row in a baseball stadium wearing matching sunglasses and spying on their son/godchild.

Every once in a while, Whizzer would chat with them over the barrier for updates. Marvin would look to Jason every now and then, but he mostly kept his eyes trained on Whizzer. He wasn’t a baseball fan, but there was something about watching Whizzer play that made his heart swell with pride.

That was his boyfriend, and he was amazing.

“How’s it looking?” Whizzer asked, leaning in so only Marvin could hear him.

“Good,” was all Marvin replied. 

For a few seconds, the two of them just remained there looking at each other, smiles on their faces.

“You didn’t bring us here to spy on Jason, did you?” Marvin shot. It wasn’t really a question.

Whizzer shook his head.

Before they could talk anymore, Whizzer was already being called back to the field.

“This is fun,” said Mendel. However, it sounded more like “Mish osiu feuifn,” since his mouth was stuffed with a hot dog. “I’ve never been this close to the field before.”

Marvin looked along his row to the right, where the lesbians were far too interested in the game, and Trina was fawning over Mendel, who had spilled pop all over his sweater. Marvin saw the entire family enjoying themselves, barely paying attention to Jason.

Whizzer was a fucking genius.

___________________________________________________

“Marvin!” Whizzer called out from the kitchen. “Where did you put the hot chocolate mix!?”

“I threw it away!” Marvin yelled back. “The container was empty, you used it all.”

Whizzer slunk over to the bedroom, where Marvin was. He was currently helping Whizzer unpack all his stuff. Surprisingly, he didn’t have much. Some equipment, lots of clothes, and his photography stuff. What Whizzer did contribute to the overall look of the place was photos. The once bare walls of Marvin’s apartment were now covered in dozens of picture frames. There were landscapes, people, events, all beautifully captured by Whizzer.

“Marv, I need my hot chocolate. I can already feel myself growing weaker.”

Marvin just rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll go over and see if I can snag some from Cordelia.”

“Thanks, boo,” Whizzer grinned. 

He leaned over and gave his lover a kiss, not lingering for too long since he needed that hot chocolate. Marvin sighed, but departed out the door, nonetheless. Whizzer took Marvin’s place in front of the closet, continuing to unpack his stuff.

He did have a lot of clothes, so he ended up taking most of the closet space. He thought it alright though, he needed to take Marvin clothing shopping anyways, because that man had no sense of style.

Marvin made Whizzer happy, he really did. At first it had to do with the fact that Marvin didn’t know he was famous, but it grew into so much more than that. He spent all of his off time with Marvin, because he wanted to. He wanted to be around him as much as possible, because every time they were together, he felt like he could truly be himself. He found friendship with the lesbians, and love with Marvin.

Love. There wasn’t any other word he felt fit to describe it. Of course, he would never use that word around Marvin, but he thought of it every time he saw him. He loved Marvin’s personality, his quirks, even if he could be difficult sometimes. Whizzer realized how weird this whole situation was. His boyfriend has a kid, and ex-wife who married his ex-psychiatrist, and not to mention two lesbian neighbours. But Whizzer embraced it, because sometimes that’s all you can do.

Whizzer snapped out of his thoughts when there was a knock at the door. Marvin probably forgot to take his key with him. 

“Trina!” Whizzer said, poorly hiding his surprise. “What…what brings you here?”

Trina stood outside of the apartment door, tightly gripping onto a Tupperware filled with brownies.

“Um…” she began awkwardly, “well, I heard you were moving in, so I, uh, I thought I’d drop this by as a housewarming gift.”

A smile spread across Whizzer’s face. “Thank you so much, Trina, please, come in.”

He opened the door wider to make way for her, but Whizzer could see she was hesitant. After a few awkward seconds where Trina just stood in the doorway, she entered.

“Is Marvin here?” she asked, placing the container on the kitchen counter. Whizzer shook his head.

“He’s at Cordelia and Charlotte’s.”

Trina nodded her head to signal she understood, then she started looking around the apartment.

“Are these yours?” she asked, gesturing to the many photographs on the wall.

“Yeah,” Whizzer confirmed, “it’s just something I like to do for fun.”

“They’re good,” was all Trina replied.

She then turned to face Whizzer, now with a more serious tone of voice.

“Look, Whizzer,” Trina said. “I’m glad you’re around.”

That definitely wasn’t what Whizzer expected her to say.

“Oh…I, uh-“

“Our marriage was short, and difficult. I’m just…I’m glad Marvin found someone who makes him happy, and I’m glad that that someone is you.”

Whizzer didn’t know how to reply, but he did know that a small smile unconsciously crossed his face.

“Also, I’m sorry that Mendel keeps talking to you about Sandy Koufax, you’re never going to escape that.”

Whizzer laughed, Trina was definitely right about that. He was glad that there wasn’t an unpleasant dynamic between them. It was probably unorthodox, but it was better this way.

“I’ve got a few bags, but Cordelia says it’s the really strong stuff.”

Marvin walked through the door, his arms filled with hot chocolate mix. He nearly dropped the bags when he saw his lover and his ex-wife chatting in the middle of his-their apartment.

“Trina….hi.”

He stood there looking at the both of them, stunned.

“I…was just leaving,” said Trina, already on her way out the door. “It was nice talking to you, Whizzer.”

Marvin was dumbstruck as he watched Trina walk past him and out of the apartment.

“So,” said Whizzer, completely ignoring what just happened. “How ‘bout that hot chocolate?”


	14. High School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Marvin, what is it? Is something wrong?”
> 
> “No, it’s just, I can’t get out of work and Mendel’s stuck with a client and Trina can’t leave her class. Jason got in trouble again and the office says we need to pick him up, I just didn’t know who to ask-“
> 
> “Marvin, it’s fine, I’m not doing anything right now, I’ll get him.”

Whizzer sat in his underwear on the couch drinking hot chocolate and watching some Canadian kid’s cartoon, which was actually quite good. This was one of his few full days off in the week, where he didn’t have to get up early for conditioning or practice. While morning sex was good, Whizzer didn’t love sitting around by himself while Marvin was at work. He needed to have something to do, which was why he was almost relieved when he heard his cell ring.

Whizzer vaulted over the couch to retrieve his phone from where it was plugged into the wall.

“Yellow?”

“Whizzer, thank god,” it was Marvin. “This is a really weird thing to ask, but I didn’t know who else to call.”

“Marvin, what is it? Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s just, I can’t get out of work and Mendel’s stuck with a client and Trina can’t leave her class. Jason got in trouble again and the office says we need to pick him up, I just didn’t know who to ask-“

“Marvin, it’s fine, I’m not doing anything right now, I’ll get him.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks Whizzer, you’re a life saver.”

As soon as Whizzer hung up the phone, he realized what he had just agreed to do. He hated schools, he really did. They were filled with teenagers who hadn’t discovered what deodorant was yet, and kids that looked like they were on the verge of throwing themselves off a bridge.

But he knew what he had to do, he was gonna make Jason look cool, damnit. 

So that’s how Whizzer found himself walking down the halls of a public high school. He made sure to dress himself up a bit, he wore his leather jacket over his team baseball shirt, ensuring that everyone knew who he was. Whizzer wasn’t sure if that was necessary, since there were so many teenage eyes ogling him as he walked through the halls with his hands in his pockets.

Whizzer rounded the corner into the office. It had several large glass windows surrounding it, which made it easy for him to spot it. It also made it very obvious when several students pressed their faces up against them to find out why the hell and MLB player was in their school.

“Hello?” said Whizzer as he approached the secretary. “I’m here to retrieve Jason Cohen?”

The secretary looked up from his computer, clearly uninterested. He just gestured with his head at a door labeled the principal’s office. Whizzer was expecting verbal confirmation but figured that maybe it was better if he didn’t have a conversation with the grumpy man. Instead, he walked up to the door and knocked. When the door opened, there was a tall, high-heel wearing woman behind it. Whizzer immediately noticed how her stern expression melted away when she recognized him.

“Hi, I’m here for Jason.”

“Ex-excuse me?” she stuttered in disbelief. 

Whizzer noticed a shelf filled with assorted memorabilia from his team. There were signed baseballs, gloves, and banners. This was going to be easy. At the sound of Whizzer’s voice, Jason popped up out of a chair in the corner.

“Whizzer!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here?!”

“Your mom and dads are busy, and I didn’t have practice or a game today, so I get to pick you up.”

Whizzer entered the office and did his handshake with Jason. He was aware that the principal was gawking at them the whole time they had this short conversation.

“So, what are we here for?” Whizzer said as he took a seat next to Jason.

“Um…well, uh, Jason has gotten into some trouble recently,” said the principal, finally managing to compose herself.

Whizzer raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, inviting her to continue.

“Well, he punched another student at lunch today-“

“Ha! Really, that’s fucking amazing,” Whizzer laughed. “Nice one, Jace.”

The principal narrowed her eyes. If Whizzer were anyone else, she would scold him, but something made her bite her tongue.

“Mr. Brown, at this school we trust parents to take punishments into their own hands, so we will not be issuing a suspension. I advise you to talk to Jason about this an ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Right,” said Whizzer, still not taking things very seriously. “Is that all?”

“Um…yes.”

“Great, well, thank you for your time. Jason, let’s get going.”

Whizzer stood up from his seat, with Jason following close behind him. As they walked into the main office, the group of teenagers outside the window had grown. You could only imagine their surprise when they saw Whizzer exit the office with Jason under his wing. 

As the two of them made their way back down the halls, there were twice as many eyes on them. It made Whizzer think that Jason wasn’t exactly popular, especially since Jason seemed embarrassed by all the attention.

“So,” started Whizzer, hoping to take Jason’s attention away from the prying eyes of his classmates, “you punched a bitch?”

Jason giggled, muffling his mouth with his hand. “Yeah I did.”

Whizzer laughed along with him, “may I ask why?”

Jason sighed, looking around. “Maybe, elsewhere.”

Whizzer nodded, understanding that it must be a story he didn’t want to tell while the eyes of the entire school were on him. The two walked down to the parking lot and got into Whizzer’s car, which happened to be an old, dark red convertible. 

“We have two options,” said Whizzer as he started up the car. “I could take you home and lecture you, or we could get ice cream while you tell me what happened.”

“…I’m down for ice cream.”

Whizzer smiled as he began the cruise down to his favourite ice cream spot. It was a small establishment near a park. He knew the owners, and the area was filled with a bunch of people that didn’t watch baseball.

Once the two of them got their cones, they took a seat at one of those park tables with built in chess boards.

“Wanna play a game?” Jason proposed, already pulling the pieces from his bag. 

The kid always kept a portable chess set with him. Jason quickly set up the game, letting Whizzer be the white pieces of course.

“So,” Whizzer started, staring at the game before him, “spill.”

Jason sighed, before beginning on his spiel. “It’s just…I’ve been having a tough time at school lately. Kids are mean, and it hurts when they’re constantly casually throwing around all these slurs. I told some guys to cut it out one time, and now they all call me ‘homo’ and other stuff like that. I was able to ignore it most of the time, but today I just…I just snapped.”

Jason avoided eye contact with Whizzer the entire time. Whizzer wasn’t sure how to respond, he wasn’t any kind of father figure and he barely had one growing up. What he did know was that Jason wasn’t exactly an emotionally open kid, and the fact that he even told Whizzer this was kind of a big deal.

“Jason, I’m glad you told me, I know how hard it can be.”

Jason smiled slightly, but still kept his eyes trained on the game.

“I’m guessing you don’t want me to tell your teachers about this?” Whizzer tried.

Jason quickly shook his head. “Can we just keep this between us?”

Whizzer nodded in understanding. “So, how are things going with Heather Levin?”

Finally, Whizzer found something to make Jason smile.

“Good, I think, she asked me to the year-end dance.”

“Hey, look at you! You’ve got yourself a progressive girl there, keep her, okay?”

Jason grinned, Whizzer was happy that Jason was happy. 

“Speaking of, I have this great story about this time I hooked up with this guy in a bathroom at Disneyland.”


	15. The Polaroid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Content

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright kiddos, here we go.

Marvin ran his fingers carefully through Whizzer’s hair. The moment was peaceful, domestic, quiet. The two men were lying in bed, bodies curled up against one another in a blissful silence. It was early in the evening, they had the night off from work, allowing them to seize the opportunity.

Exams were coming up for Jason, so the entire family thought this time best spent to relax. The seven of them, even Mendel and Trina, had agreed to a movie night to help the kid unwind.

They still had some time until then, so Marvin was using this time to cuddle with his boyfriend. Whizzer shifted in his spot wrapped in Marvin’s arms, waking up from his nap. He rolled so they were lying face to face, staring into each other’s eyes but not speaking for a while. Marvin examined every centimeter of Whizzer’s face, never wanting to forget any of it.

“Hey,” he said softly.

“Hey,” Whizzer replied sleepily.

Marvin didn’t blame Whizzer for being exhausted, he had training all morning, not to mention all the, “working out” they did when he got home.

“What are you thinking about right now?” Marvin asked.

“You.”

“...No, really.”

“I was trying to figure out if Greenland is a part of Europe or North America.”

“Oh-“

“Yeah, because I think it’s like, a part of Denmark-“

“Right.”

“-But geographically it’s right next to Canada. But I feel like no one has ever thought of Greenland as part of North America because it’s mostly just like the three main ones.”

“Yeah, I get that. I think that geographically it’s part of North America, but politically it’s Europe.”

“That makes sense.”

“We should probably go now, we’re gonna be late for the movie night.”

“Yeah.”

Neither of them moved.

As Whizzer examined his surroundings, he realized that this was the life he was living. Here, with this man, in this city, in this life. If it were in his power, he wouldn’t change a thing. And yet, it was in his power.

The pitter patter of the light rain on the window only bettered his mood. Whizzer loved bad weather. Sure, it was bad for baseball, but it was good for him. He was at peace. 

A few months ago, Whizzer sat in a bar with nothing going for him. Many would say otherwise, he had a place in Major League Baseball, an entire life ahead of him. Whizzer would say the opposite, he was alone. Well, he was, until a man sat down next to him.

The man looked tired, his outfit was an abomination, but there was a certain kindness to his face that Whizzer couldn’t ignore. Maybe that’s why he found himself staring, and then conversing.   
Talking to this man was so easy. 

The next morning when Whizzer woke up naked in the man’s bed, he didn’t want to leave right away. For a moment, he laid there next to the sleeping man, feeling better than he had felt in a while.   
Every time Whizzer hooked up with a man, he snuck out of his apartment to never see him again. It was out of the ordinary when Whizzer made the split-second decision to leave his number. It was an impromptu decision, but the best one he had ever made.

“Marvin?”

“Yeah, Whizzer?”

Whizzer leaned in to Marvin and pressed his forehead against his lover’s.

“I love you.”

Marvin hesitated, causing a flourish of words to fly through Whizzer’s head in order to backtrack. 

“I love you too.”

Content. 

If there was one word to describe the way Whizzer felt, it would be content. Marvin leaned forward, kissing Whizzer as if it were both the first and last time. Luckily, it was neither.

After a few more moments of pleasant silence, Whizzer sat up.

“We really should be going though, or Trina’s gonna kill us.”

“Right,” said Marvin, sitting up as well.

The two hopped out of bed to get dressed. Whizzer ran his fingers through his hair, so it didn’t look to messy.

“You coming?” Marvin asked as he went towards the door to put on his jacket.

“Yeah, just, give me a second.”

Marvin nodded, then retreated out of the bedroom. Once Whizzer was sure Marvin was gone, he knelt down next to his bedside table. He opened up the bottom drawer, where only one item rest.

It was a small photo album, one Whizzer had since he was a boy. There were few items in it, only the most cherished ones were good enough.

The first page, a photo of his mother before she passed. She was smiling, holding a baby Whizzer. The picture was of poor quality, but it was all he had.

The next, the only family picture they had ever taken. It had him, his father, his mother, and his older sister. He remembered when this picture was taken. He remembered how everyone laughed   
because a young Whizzer didn’t know how to follow to photographer’s direction.

He flipped a few more pages. A piece of leather from his first baseball glove had been wedged in between the plastic of the album.

Another, the first picture Whizzer had ever taken. It was with a crappy old camera that his father had picked up from a pawn shop. It wasn’t a great picture, by any means. It was a field at sunset, grainy and blurry, but perfect in its own way.

He flipped to the back of the album to an empty page. Whizzer reached into his pocket and retrieved his wallet. He opened the folds of the worn leather and pulled out a creased piece of paper. He carefully unfolded it, not wanting to tear it.

The Polaroid captured Marvin as he was, beautiful and flawed.

He slipped the photo into the album.

Content.


End file.
